Historic Navy ship provided highlight of career

William “Bill” Falls of Gastonia didn’t cut his teeth on the cold steel of the USS Enterprise 51 years ago. The pioneering vessel cut its teeth on him.

Michael Barrett

William “Bill” Falls of Gastonia didn’t cut his teeth on the cold steel of the USS Enterprise 51 years ago. The pioneering vessel cut its teeth on him.

When the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was commissioned in 1961, Falls was one of its original crew members, known as a “plank owner.” He was already an experienced Navy seaman, having seasoned his lungs with salty air during stints on other memorable ships.

Little did Falls know he would return a half century later to travel on the Enterprise one last time. During its final voyage last month from Mayport, Fla., to Norfolk, Va., Falls rode along, before taking part in the ship’s inactivation ceremony Dec. 1.

Now 77, he was one of only two Enterprise plank owners to receive that privilege.

“Fifty-one years ago, I never dreamed I’d be coming back to ride it home,” said Falls. “How fast time flies.”

Making history

Falls grew up in south Gastonia with two sisters, and three brothers who all became military brats. Jack Falls entered the Navy first and would come home from Norfolk in uniform some weekends, impressing his younger sibling.

“Jack inspired me,” said Falls. “I just wanted to follow suit.”

When he enlisted in 1955, he was granted permission to serve with his brother aboard the USS Roanoke, a cruiser. He decided to make a career out of the military and went on to serve on the USS Forrestal, the first American aircraft carrier to be built with an angled flight deck.

After the Navy announced it was building the Enterprise, a 22-year-old Falls signed up to commission and serve on it. He knew nothing of the technological breakthroughs it would feature.

“At the time, it didn’t go through our mind that it would be an aircraft carrier with eight nuclear reactors,” he said. “When we were pulling out of Newport News (Va.) the first time, they made a huge deal out of it.”

Memories at sea

Falls served on the eighth United States naval vessel to bear the name Enterprise. Its affectionate nickname was the “Big E,” and it was the only ship of its type ever built.

Meant to last 25 years, it underwent a series of improvements that extended its service, allowing it to complete 25 deployments. The Navy eventually realized it could get away with using two nuclear reactors on it, and had the other six removed.

A ship with 6,000 people serving on it functions like a contained city. Falls worked in ship service, overseeing everything from laundry to the shoe shop.

His most memorable time aboard the Enterprise came during the 13 days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. He participated in the blockade that prevented the Soviet Union from bringing military equipment to Cuba.

It was a tense period. Wary of Soviet ships that might try to break the blockade, the crew was on edge, ready to scramble to their battle stations at any second.

“It got to where we wanted something to happen. We were just like, ‘Come on,’” said Falls. “Everything on that ship was loaded up (with artillery). Hell, we kind of wanted to use it.”

Reunited

Falls served on the Enterprise two and a half years. Before retiring in 1979, he served aboard the USS Yorktown – now a museum in Charleston, S.C. – and he was a 1977 plank owner on the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier.

Falls now spends half his time in Gastonia and half in Hampton, Va., where he lived much of his life. His connections there led to him being invited to ride the Enterprise from Florida to Virginia after its inactivation was announced earlier this year.

He received the royal treatment during the voyage. Once a meager seaman, he was allowed to spend time with the ship’s captain on the bridge. He slept in the chief petty officer’s quarters, where he snatched a coffee cup emblazoned with the ship’s name as a keepsake.

He also just walked around, re-exploring the modest corners of the colossal vessel. Even at 74, he had no trouble scaling its endless ladders and navigating its confined spaces.

He revisited his old hiding place on the main deck, where he would escape while off duty to watch and be amazed at the flight operations there.

“It was a thrill,” he said. “Lots of memories come back in a situation like that.”

Proud of connection

Out of the roughly 40 plank owners who were there for the ship’s inactivation, Falls was one of only two who were able to ride it one last time. While he is sad the Enterprise can’t be preserved and turned into a museum, he knows that would be cost-prohibitive.

It will take three years and cost tens of millions of dollars for the Navy to remove the ship’s radioactive fuel and reactors. After that, the warship will be formally decommissioned.

Over two more years, all 90,000 tons of the ship’s metal will be cut up and sold for scrap.

Enterprise’s identically named replacement, CVN-80, will be procured in 2018 and cost $13.9 billion, likely setting sail in 2027.

Falls said he treasures his connection to the ship he served on in the early 1960s, and his part in establishing its long career. He still has a piece of the original plank from the ship’s wooden hull.

“Sometimes you can’t hardly believe what you’re a part of,” he said. “Other people make you realize it.”

You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826 or twitter.com/GazetteMike.